NOVEMBER 26, 2014
God
Whispers “Fish”
Read: Luke
5:1-10
From now on you will catch men. —Luke
5:10
A number of years ago
our sons and I enjoyed some days together drifting and fishing the Madison
River in Montana with two fishing guides who also served as our boatmen.
The guide I drew was a
man who had lived on the river all his life and knew where the big trout held.
He was a quiet man who spoke scarcely two dozen words in all the time he was
with us, but his few words enlivened my days.
We were fishing with
small flies in choppy water. My eyesight was not what it once was, and I was
missing most of the takes. My guide—who was also a soul of patience—began to
alert me by murmuring “fish” when he saw a trout rising under the fly. When I
heard his cue, I lifted the tip of my rod and . . . voilà! A trout on the end
of my line!
I’ve often thought of
that guide and Jesus’ declaration to His fishermen-disciples, “From now on you
will catch men” (Luke 5:10). There are great opportunities that come our way
every day—people circling around us, searching for that elusive “something” for
which their souls crave—occasions to show the love of Christ and speak of the
hope that is in us. These are opportunities we might miss if not alerted.
May the Great Angler,
who knows every heart, whisper “fish” in our ears and may we have ears to hear.
All through this day,
O Lord, let me touch as
many lives as possible
for You—through the words
I speak, the prayers I
breathe, the letters I write,
and the life I live.
When
the Spirit prompts, take action.
Insight
Luke 5:1-10, where
Jesus called Simon Peter to be a disciple, was probably the third time the two
had met. The first time was in John 1:40-42, where Andrew, himself a new
follower of Christ, brought Simon to Jesus. The second seems to be in Mark
1:29-31, when Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
